Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 3 No. 1, Part 2 1985
Women in the Australian Labor Force: Trends, Causes, and Consequences
Abstract
Since 1964 all the increase in female labor force participation in Australia can be attributed to married women. About 90% of the increase can be attributed to women employed part time. The paper argues that aggregate female participation rate equations cannot be regarded as labor supply curves. The female wage rate relative to that of males is exogenously determined by wage-fixing authorities above market-clearing rates, and the excess supply of labor is not adequately measured by the unemployment rate. Married women and part-time workers have a high propensity to bypass the unemployment pool when leaving or seeking a job. Participation equations are dominated by employment demand for sex-segregated jobs.
- DOI
- 10.1086/298086
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1, Part 2
- Pages
- S293-S309
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref